Jaguar is to produce an all-electric SUV called the I-Pace.
The five-seat car will have a range of up to 310 miles, four second 0-62mph time and four-wheel drive.
The pictures you see here are of the concept model but Jaguar’s head of design Ian Callum says the production version will look very similar.
“It’s a concept car, but honestly it’s pretty close,” Callum explains. “There’s a few little details here and there that you won’t see in production, but most people won’t notice much of a difference. It’s really quite different from anything we’ve done before, or indeed anyone’s done before, really.”
The I-Pace is clearly designed to steal the thunder from Tesla’s Model X electric SUV which, months after it apparently went on sale, still hasn’t delivered its first cars to UK customers.
One area where the Jaguar steals a huge march on the Tesla is appearance. Where the Model X is a bit of an ugly duckling the Jaguar is – as you might expect from one of the world’s top car designers – an utterly beautiful piece of kit.
Jaguar claims that the I-Pace will have a range from a single charge of 310 miles, and will be able to accelerate from 0-62mph in about four seconds, meaning it will rival all but the very quickest of sports cars.
The all-wheel-drive I-Pace will use a pair of electric motors that will produce close to 400bhp and 516lb ft of torque, all powered by a 90 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. Jaguar boasts that it will have “precise, agile driving dynamics as yet unseen on an electric vehicle”.
It will also, according to Jaguar, be around the size of a Porsche Macan but have the interior space of the much bigger Cayenne.
Jaguar is inviting potential customers to register interest online.
The production version is anticipated to be ready for sale in 2018 sometime and Jaguar is hinting at a price tag of around £55,000. If that’s the case then it will dramatically undercut the Model X, which costs from £75,000.
I want one.